I went to the inaugural awards show last year (also during Pubcon Vegas). Along with everyone else attending, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Personally I love dressing up on the odd occasion, but our industry as a whole is rather casual. How would folks react to a formal event?

And while the organizers seemed perfectly capable, it was unclear how exactly the event itself would manifest. Would it end up a cheesy adult prom?

I formulated an escape plan, just in case. If it turned out to be lousy, I would pretend to go to the ladies room and then quietly make a break for it.

So how did it turn out?

I stayed to the end. I loved it. Here’s why.

For a while now, we’ve been hearing a drumbeat that doesn’t seem to go away. A drumbeat that attempts to predict the direction that search marketing is headed in– as a career, as a discipline, as an industry.